Good News/Bad News August 1, 2002

By Matthew Wheeland, AlterNet. Posted August 1, 2002.

This week, Good News is definitely the frontrunner. Several great examples of doing unto others as they have done unto us, plus witnessing Dow shoot itself in the foot make this a memorable week. On the Bad News side, we're seeing a lot of governmental and industry idiocy, but mostly things a good activism campaign can fight.

The Good News

Greening at any cost: In order to make the 2008 Olympic Games a more enjoyable experience for the millions of attendees, the Chinese government has implemented radical measures to cut back on "eye-searing" pollution in Beijing. Electric cars, lowering acceptable emissions levels, and planting trees are just some of the steps involved.

The Senate is currently debating forcing the merits of a rule to prohibit new roads and logging on federal land. The bill was passed by Bill Clinton at the end of his term , and has been under intense pressure ever since. While we're all for passing this no-roads rule, we tremble in fear at the end-of-term laws Bush will try and push through...

Taking a page from the best neoliberal corporation handbooks, Greenpeace has outsourced its French StopE$$o campaign to another country. Texas is now the proud home of ExxonMobil (Esso's parent company), and Greenpeace's attempts to harass them.

In a move that makes U.S. organic farmers green(er) with envy, UK officials announced this week that they would begin subsidising (note: English spelling is out of solidarity, not shoddy editing...) their organic farmers to ensure the sustainability of the industry.

In an attempt to forestall a statewide ban in California, Dow Chemical has given its enemies glorious and everlasting ammunition: Dow has asked the EPA to ban its own weedkiller, clopyralid from U.S. markets.

If we had a dime for every half-full mineral water we've pulled from the trash to recycle: Senator Jim Jeffords has introduced legislation to help reduce the amount of recyclables in the nation's landfills by putting a 10-cent deposit on all beverage containers.

Maybe they'll only kill poachers: a former weapons arsenal outside Denver is both a Superfund site and a wildlife preserve. Since 1992, it has been a protected place for bald eagles, mule deer, and other animals, and since 1996 the U.S. Army has been scooping up undetonated Sarin bomblets.

The Bad News

Last year, environmental groups won an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to increase the area of manatee sanctuaries in Florida. Unfortunately, the USFWS called the settlement illegal, saying it "unlawfully" constrains the discretion of the federal government to take no action to protect manatees. I guess if Bush doesn't want to protect manatees, we can't make him. Or can we...?

With worldwide opposition to genetically modified food increasing, the U.S. has resorted to drastic measures: forcing starving countries to take otherwise-unwanted GMO foods off their hands. Zimbabwe has resisted pressure from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Agriculture, while Zambia has accepted.

A trojan horse bill purports to make way for renewable energy sources (solar plants, wind farms, etc.) but may create a back door for new offshore oil drilling. If the Bush administration is for it, we're most likely against it...

Just like his father before him, Dubya is waffling on the World Summit for Sustainable Development. Unwilling to even commit to attending, the Bush administration has suggested that they will send a smaller delegation, but won't discuss climate change or the U.S. role in it.

Sometimes, you just can't win. If you feel sick, one school of thought suggests that getting out in the fresh air, maybe even exercising, will help your body fight illness. However, a new study is correlating exercising in areas with high air pollution to heart disease and heart attacks. Perhaps the couch potatoes will inherit the earth after all...

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